Al-Azhar Mosque
about 45 minA congregational mosque founded in 970 for the new Fatimid city and still in use today.
Jawhar al-Siqilli, a general serving the Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, ordered the mosque built for the new city. Work began in 970 and finished in 972. Mamluk rulers added madrasas and minarets over the following centuries, among them the minaret of Qaytbay. It remains an active Sunni mosque affiliated with Al-Azhar University. It stands in the historic core of Islamic Cairo.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaAl-Azhar area, Islamic Cairo, CairoBest: morning, late morningHassle: light toutingOn the map ›Something wrong?
Al-Muizz Street
about 45 minThe walk through the old walled city: one street from Bab al-Futuh in the north to Bab Zuweila in the south.
Al-Muizz Street is named after the Fatimid caliph al-Muizz li-Din Allah. It stretches between two gates of Cairo's old city walls, from Bab al-Futuh in the north to Bab Zuwayla in the south, and passes Khan al-Khalili on the way. Markets, vendors and local craft shops line it. Al-Hakim Mosque, the lane of Bayt al-Suhaymi, Al-Aqmar Mosque and the Qalawun Complex are on the street and have their own entries in this guide.
What to do there- Browse the craft shops and vendors along the street
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaAl-Muizz li-Din Allah Street, from Bab al-Futuh to Bab Zuwayla, CairoBest: morning, late morning, golden hourWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Bayt al-Suhaymi
about 50 minA Cairo house begun in 1648 in a lane of Al-Muizz Street, with a sizable courtyard and wooden mashrabiyya windows.
The house is in al-Darb al-Asfar lane in al-Gamaliyya, in Al-Muizz Street. Shaykh Abd al-Wahhab al-Tablawi established the first part in 1648; Haji Ismail Chelebi added a second in 1796 and merged the two into one house. It is named after its last resident, Shaykh Muhammad Amin al-Suhaymi. Several buildings overlook a sizable courtyard, their facades set with wooden mashrabiyya windows. The house has a seated balcony and a furnished reception hall, wells, a waterwheel and a mill.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaAl-Darb al-Asfar lane, Al-Muizz Street, El Gamaliya, CairoBest: morning, afternoonWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Museum of Islamic Art
about 90 minOne of the world's largest collections of Islamic artefacts, in a building of 1903 with a Mamluk-style facade.
The museum holds one of the largest and most extensive collections of Islamic artefacts in the world. The building was inaugurated in 1903, with a facade in the Mamluk style. Two floors show artefacts from all over the world, among them carved woodwork, decorated ceramics and rare manuscripts. A Mamluk key to the Ka'ba in Mecca is among its most notable pieces. An explosion in 2014 damaged the facade; it was restored and reopened in 2017.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaPort Said Street, Bab al-Khalq, CairoBest: morning, late morning, afternoonWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Qalawun Complex
about 45 minA Mamluk-period complex on Al-Muizz Street, founded in 1283 to 1284: a mosque, a school, a burial place and a hospital.
Sultan Sayf al-Din Qalawun established this complex on Al-Muizz Street in 1283 to 1284; it dates to the Mamluk period. It consists of a mosque, a school, a burial place and a hospital; bimaristan is a Persian word meaning house of the ill. Its entrances use gold and silver gilding and geometric and floral motifs. The hospital treated people who suffered from nervous and psychological disorders and now serves as an eye and dentistry hospital.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaAl-Muizz Street, Islamic Cairo, CairoBest: morning, late morningWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Al-Aqmar Mosque
about 20 minA Fatimid mosque of 1125 on Al-Muizz Street with one of the oldest surviving stone facades in Egypt.
The Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah commissioned this mosque on Al-Muizz Street in 1125, and it was renewed in the reign of Sultan Barquq in 1397. Its main facade is one of the oldest surviving stone facades in Egypt, with intricate stone carvings and Qur'anic verses written in the Kufic script. The facade is oriented to the street while the inside keeps the direction of prayer. The facade of the Coptic Museum was inspired by it.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaAl-Muizz Street, Islamic Cairo, CairoBest: morning, late morningWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Al-Hakim Mosque
about 30 minA Fatimid mosque finished in 1013 near Bab al-Futuh, the second largest in Egypt after the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.
The Fatimid caliph al-Aziz began this mosque in 990 and his son al-Hakim finished it in 1013. The Ministry calls it the fourth oldest mosque in Egypt and the second largest after the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. It is at the end of Al-Muizz Street in al-Gamaliya district, near Bab al-Futuh. Four arcades surround a courtyard, and two minarets flank the facade. During the French campaign it served as a barracks and its minarets as watch-towers.
Al-Muizz and Bab Zuweila154 Al-Muizz li-Din Allah Street, El Gamaliya, CairoBest: afternoon, golden hourWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Bab al-Futuh
about 20 minA gate in the northern wall of Fatimid Cairo, built in 1087, opening onto Al-Muizz Street.
Bab al-Futuh, the Gate of Conquests, is a gate in the northern wall of Fatimid Cairo. It opens onto Al-Muizz Street, which leads to Bab Zuwayla. The vizier Badr al-Jamali built it in 1087. Its two towers have rounded fronts and are linked by a platform with shafts in its floor, through which boiling oil could be poured on invaders. Bab al-Nasr, the Gate of Victory, is in the same wall, built by the same vizier in the same year.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaNorthern end of Al-Muizz Street, at 1 Darb Al Keshta, El Gamaliya, CairoBest: morning, late morning, golden hourWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Bab Zuweila
about 40 minThe southern gate of Fatimid Cairo's walls, built in 1092; a Mamluk mosque's two minarets stand on its towers.
Bab Zuwayla is one of the gates of the walls of Fatimid Cairo, on the southern side. The Fatimid vizier Badr al-Gamali built it in 1092, about five years after Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh on the northern side. Three hundred years later the Mamluk sultan al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh used the bases of the towers for the two minarets of his mosque next to the gate. The Ottoman sultan Selim I hanged the last Mamluk sultan, Tumanbay, here in 1517.
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaSouthern end of Al-Muizz Street, Islamic Cairo, CairoBest: morning, late morning, afternoonWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?
Street of the Tentmakers
about 30 minA covered market of the 17th century where Cairo's khayamiya, hand-stitched appliqué for tents, is made.
The Street of the Tentmakers, Shari'a al-Khayamiyya, is centred on the Qasaba of Radwan Bey, a historic covered market built in the 17th century. Khayamiya are elaborately patterned, colourful appliqués applied to the inside of tents; they are now made mainly here. The work is hand-stitched cotton appliqué over a heavy cotton back, and a piece is usually completed by a single tentmaker whatever its size. Contemporary khayamiya are appliqué panels made for indoor use.
What to do there- Shop for appliqué khayamiya panels and tents
Al-Muizz and Bab ZuweilaAl-Khayamiya Street, El-Darb El-Ahmar, CairoBest: late morning, afternoon, golden hourOn the map ›Something wrong?
Wikala of al-Ghuri
about 30 minThe commercial part of Sultan al-Ghuri's complex of 1503 to 1504: an open courtyard surrounded by halls on five floors.
Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri, a Burgi Mamluk sultan who ruled from 1501 until his death in 1516, founded the complex this wikala belongs to; it was built in 1503 to 1504. The wikala, its commercial part, is a rectangular open courtyard surrounded by halls on a ground floor and four upper floors. The ground and first floors were warehouses for merchants' goods; the upper floors were lodgings for merchants. Visitors' reviews on its map listing mention dancers and dervishes.
What to do there- Watch a dervish dance or folklore show
Al-Muizz and Bab Zuweila3 Mohamed Abdo Street, off Al-Azhar Street, Al-Darb Al-Ahmar, CairoBest: morning, afternoonWebsite ›On the map ›Something wrong?